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Originally Posted by kylehargrove
hey, yea well david i was going to rescue him but i couldnt without coughing up the cash... btw after his bath tonight he started breathing bad. I dont know if the heat and warth is loosening up mucus in him or what but he sounds like a human who has flim caught in the throat. and his nose is pouring snot and i cant get it to stop and foamy white spit is bubbling out of his mouth like he is blowing spit bubbles.. did all this happen from a 97 degree bath>?? i thought the heat was good for him??? i hope i didnt do anything wrong. Now he is laying under his heat lamp sneezing. a cold maybe? I hope its nothing more serious cause im about broke... um he is hissing alot to, pretty much none stop and not at me, just ALL the time, even when he moves and im lookin in threw the window... i dont know what to do. If theres anything i need to do to make him ok tell me
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Kyle: relax. You're doing everything you need to do for your Burm and more. You haven't caused any of his problems and you're doing all you need to do and more. It sounds like he may have a respiratory infection. If that's the case, he will really need to see a vet ASAP. In the meantime keep his heat and humidity where they are at and keep giving him warm baths (85* or so should be fine).
Alternately, he may just have a little water in his nostrils. I've seen my Burm sneeze a few times after a bath and she didn't have a respiratory infection. If he wasn't very strong to begin with, he may have inhaled a bit of water and now is trying to get rid of it. I would treat it like an RI if he's still sneezing after tomorrow: otherwise it may be a false alarm.
I don't know what else you can do if it is an RI (although I'm going to check with some friends who know a lot more about this stuff than I do), but here are some other home remedies which may help him with different problems your snake may have:
Does he have any stuck sheds or old burns from the heat rock? If so you may want to add a little bit of betadine to the bathwater -- enough to color it the color of iced tea, but no more than that. Let him soak in that for 15 minutes or so but be sure not to let him drink it (keep his head above water). That may help with any scale rot or skin infections.
Also, how is his mouth? If he's showing signs of mouth rot or if he has rubs on his head you may want to rub some Neosporin on it (just Neosporin, not neosporin with anything else). Put that on the wound and clean out any pus you see. Again, if he has any of these conditions he'll need to see a vet ASAP but if you don't have the $ right now this will be a lot better than doing nothing at all.
Offer him small but regular meals. In his weakened condition an overly large meal could do more harm than good. Pinkies or hoppers (mice) should be fine for the present time. Make sure he keeps one down a couple days before offering him another one. When he's established on those you can start moving the size up, but take your time and err on the side of caution.
Make sure his cage is clean: get rid of any droppings quickly and make sure he has regular access to clean fresh water. Check for mites. If he has them you can go down to your local drugstore, get some anti-louse spray, and spray his cage and accessories with that, then let it dry. You can also rub him down with vegetable oil and give him a bath. This causes the mites to drown but since it doesn't do a lot for the eggs, you'll have to repeat it again in 10-14 days. (There are better ways to take care of mites, but I'm assuming you're really short on cash so I'm trying to offer quick and inexpensive solutions).